


LIFE UPDATE + ANIMAL CROSSING (STREAM ARCHIVE 6/12/2020)

by bemse



Series: YouTuber AU [2]
Category: RWBY
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, F/F, Youtuber AU
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-13
Updated: 2020-06-13
Packaged: 2021-03-03 22:33:36
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 16,055
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24693073
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bemse/pseuds/bemse
Summary: Ruby and Weiss are STILL together (it's a miracle)! They do a livestream to celebrate another year being a couple.Stuck at home. Stuck with each other. What's the worst that can happen?
Relationships: Ruby Rose/Weiss Schnee
Series: YouTuber AU [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1785979
Comments: 2
Kudos: 67





	LIFE UPDATE + ANIMAL CROSSING (STREAM ARCHIVE 6/12/2020)

**Author's Note:**

> For White Rose Week 2020
> 
> Day 4: Connections

**Prologue**

YouTuber and Twitch streamer, Ruby Rose, hangs by her desk Wednesday evening. She’s watching her friend’s stream get raided by her viewers. A chuckle escapes her lips. Cola in hand, Ruby takes a swig and opens up Discord on her computer. She sees over a dozen notifications on her server. Ruby reads the following:

people like grapes: aww Weiss didn’t show up :sad:

yeehaw: was she supposed to show today?

im grapes: it’s their anniversary @yeehaw

people like grapes: she was in a content last year

Assigned Baby at birth: aww that would’ve been cute :gay:

im grapes: @RubyRose bring us Weiss

yeehaw: @RubyRose :gay:

people like grapes: :gay:

Assigned Baby at birth: :gay: :gay:

RubyRose: wednesay stream ended

Maybe friday

yeehaw: give us an update on Weiss :gay:

Assigned Baby at birth: better late than never :gay:

RubyRose: [sigh] ¯\\_(ツ)_/¯ :ok_hand:

* * *

“...You see, now it’s red, which means we’ve started. The far-right monitor is the chat. The left window is YouTube; the right window is Twitch.” Ruby points directly at the camera. “Camera, of course—”

“Yes. I’m familiar with what a camera looks like.” Weiss’s voice can be heard off-screen; Ruby giggles. “So are we starting or…?”

Ruby blankly stares at the empty chat.

“They have to receive the notification—oh, hey, there they are!”

The view counter skyrockets and names begin popping up in the chat box.

“Hi May, hi Crystal, hi WeebKing! Hey, everyone! Welcome to the stream!”

The chat quickly fills with names and messages of introducing themselves.

Ruby officially begins the stream by greeting everyone with her signature introduction. She stands in front of the black acoustic foam in her office. It’s her typical setup, with the addition of the standing desk being raised. “At the end of the stream, we’re going to be playing _Animal Crossing_ , so stay tuned for that.” Ruby glazes at the names going by through chat. “Yes, Weiss is here—oh, you’re out of frame, Love.”

“Oh, sorry.” Ruby guides Weiss in front of the camera. She glances at the monitor displaying the live feed.

“It’s fine. I’m used to standing in the middle, so I cut you off. So, that’s my bad.” Ruby briefly adjusts her settings. “People were saying I’m quiet. Is that better?” She patiently waits for a response. “Cool. Well, thank you guys for joining us today and chatting with us.” 

Weiss stares at the monitors like a deer in headlights. “Yes, thank you.”

Ruby giggles. “Do you know why you’re here?” She asks Weiss.

“On this Earth or this stream?” Ruby is caught in laughter. 

“Yeah, do you know why we’re here? Tell me. What has 33 years on this Earth taught you about the meaning of life?” She deeply gazes in her significant other’s eyes, propping her elbow on the desk.

Weiss takes a moment to think. “Hmm. I have a theory that life moves on without my influence. And if I do make a significant mark in history, then that’s beyond my control,” she nonchalantly shrugs.

“So what you’re saying… is… that… we just live out our lives, not thinking of anything deep, and if someone were to look at it from their perspective, they can freely interpret it as something bigger or something less?”

“Yes, exactly,” Weiss answers without skipping a beat.

“Okay, so now that the philosophical part of the stream is out of the way,” Ruby claps, “let’s put it in layman's terms,” she adds, “I don’t know if you remember this, Weiss, but last year you made your first appearance on the channel,” she says enthusiastically. “So, what do you have to say about that,” she pauses to hear Weiss’s reaction.

“Okay.”

“That’s it, that’s all you have to say?” Ruby chuckles.

“I guess… I’m a little blown away that it’s already been a year.”

“Do you remember what we did?” Ruby asks, bouncing on the balls of her feet. Weiss stretches her neck to think.

“Fuck,” Weiss exclaims while looking directly at Ruby. “Did we drink those coffees?”

“Yeah,” Ruby nods her head, laughing. “10… uhh… Starbucks drinks.” Weiss has instant regret written all over her face; the memory of consuming Starbucks Frappuccinos haunts her. 

“When was that exactly?” Weiss asks.

Ruby looks up the video. “June 10.”

“Then why didn’t we do this on June 10?”

“Because I’m not very good at my job,” Ruby smiles, “and my mods just reminded me literally at the end of the last stream. They were like, ‘where’s Weiss? How’s she doing?’” She impersonates her mods. “And I was like, ‘Weiss? She’s doing fine.’ But yeah,” she sighs. “They wanted an update on our relationship.”

Weiss stares at Ruby. “Do we owe them an update on anything?” The YouTuber stares back at her. She doesn’t make a peep for a while. They enter into a mutual staring contest, waiting for the other person to say something.

Ruby breaks the silence. “Well, I guess you’re right. That’s the end of the stream everybody”— Ruby covers the camera lens. Weiss laughs at her. She uncovers the lens, turning back to the stream, and continues, “I mean… we’re still together, which is a miracle in and of itself. That’s the gist of the update.” Ruby brushes a hand on the nape of her neck. “But a lot has happened since then.”

“What happened?” Weiss asks.

* * *

Weiss sat Summer down in her highchair in front of the island counter. “So, Mommy said you had an egg?”

“Egg. Ye.” Her toddler replied.

Weiss decided to make some herself, and maybe for Ruby if she hadn’t eaten yet. “What kind did Mommy make you?”

Summer pointed at a small pot resting on the stove. A couple of hard-boiled eggs were sitting in the bottom of the pot.

Ruby was converting their daughter to the hard-boiled egg cult. _Humph._ Typical.

Weiss had the pan on high before Ruby’s footsteps were faintly heard, along with Zwei’s claws scraping the floor. “My Love, do you mind checking if we have crème fraîche. Or maybe even sour cream is—”

Ruby was down on one knee. A very distinctive box was poorly tucked between the palms of her hands. Weiss was stunned. Too stunned to even notice the stove was still burning (Ruby reached over to turn it off).

Her mouth was dry as a desert, and she saw Ruby’s monkey mind going. Their eyes were locked on each other, and that was only who they saw. They wore each other’s robes, hickeys marked their skin, and both were half-awake. Weiss’s tears swelled in her eyes. 

A faint breath of words escaped the woman’s lips “I… I can never know what to say.” Ruby’s voice shook. “In the past year or so, there would be these moments… where I’d-I just want to do this. I wanted to pop down on one knee and declare my love for you. There were so many opportunities where we could have been eating some fancy dinner or been in your favorite places or even in the most magical place in the world, but that’s not us. 

“Because this is the moment I want us to relive. Us, waking up in the morning, every day, Summer—our angel—being able to witness real love. This is us. This is how I want us to live. It’s perfect.

“And we’re good. We’re so good. We’ve been holding this off because of finances; but, to tell you the truth, Weiss, I’ve been wanting to marry you more than once. You deserve a hundred weddings, even if they are with me…. I’m so in love with you. I love you so much. You’re my best friend—my soulmate. You’re the mother to our child. You’re more than enough.

“Weiss Schnee, will you do the honor, make me whole, make me so happy, and be my partner for life?”

Weiss cupped her hands over her mouth, and she wasn't able to respond. She was shaking—only able to muster a nod, plus a thought—

“Aw, man. ‘Weiss Schnee, will you marry me’ already rhymes. Hol’ up, give me a sec. I’m gonna start all over—”

Weiss cut Ruby off with a hard kiss—crashing right into her, and balled the robe collar in her fists. As moments passed by, Ruby wrapped her arms around her in an embrace—softening their kiss. Her lips tasted like coffee—Weiss didn’t mind the taste like this. Their need for air was inevitable. Weiss released her grip and gasped inches from Ruby’s nose. She dropped her head, lowered it with Weiss’s, and they touched foreheads. 

She sighed and they stayed like this for a while. The pad of Ruby’s thumb went over Weiss’s damp cheeks. The thought came back to her. “Do you mind waiting for my answer?” Her head snapped up at Weiss’s sudden response. It wasn’t expected at all. “I’ll be right back.” 

Weiss scurried to the laundry room. They had a tub on top of the washer and dryer where they kept scraps and loose clothing materials. Weiss was digging through it trying to find the ring. This was the safest place Weiss thought of… since Ruby rarely did the laundry.

Once the ring was in her hands, and soon-to-be future wife’s, she returned to the kitchen. And there she was: elbow leaning on the island counter, watching Summer drink milk from her sippy cup. She hid the ring behind her back. Ruby caught her walking in, said nothing—simply eyed her up and down. “I have something, too.” She showed the ring and Ruby was sent back.

“Nooo. No no no no—” was all she said with a wide grin. Ruby turned her back to face Weiss. A hand went over her silver eyes. Weiss took the free one and kissed the back of it. 

“Ruby.” Weiss beckoned Ruby to turn around. She slowly faced her. 

“I almost forgot about this.” Weiss saw her twitch an eyebrow. “I’ve been so enamored with you just being you all these years. Yesterday was the first time we’ve looked back in our relationship. We changed. We grew. We moved forward. It’s been fun.” 

A smile crept on her lips. A single tear ran down Ruby’s face. “Summer played a big factor in our lives, My Love. Her entrance in this world was my push. In my head, I want to marry you, but where’s the rush?” The atmosphere was different from Weiss. “You carry yourself differently since we met. You should be proud because I’m proud of you. I would want nothing more than being able to call you my wife every chance I get.” 

She pressed a chaste kiss over Ruby’s lips. “You’re beautiful. I love you.” Ruby sneaks a peck on her cheek as she faces the ring boxes sitting on the counter.

“Here.” Ruby initiated. She carefully opened the box and revealed the simplest ring Weiss has ever seen. The band was silver and the gemstone resembled a mirror looking right back at her. “This was my mother’s.” Weiss’s heart sank to her stomach. “My dad gave this to her—it’s simple because she was more beautiful than any diamond he could ever find.” Ruby showed the ring to Summer. “Wow,” she cooed. 

“Wow,” she said back. “Pretty,” Summer said.

Ruby giggles. “Yeah. Pretty.” She took Weiss’s hand. “And I thought that description alone matches you perfectly.” It was a bit loose and slipped right on her finger. 

Would it be cheesy to say she didn’t deserve it? Especially since her ring for Ruby cost a whole month’s paycheck. Weiss realized she hadn’t said anything. “How long did you have this?” She whispered.

She shrugged. “Since last year. I thought Disney would be a perfect place to propose. But it was the wrong time.”

_Humble._

“How long did you have yours?” Ruby asked back.

Weiss turned to her unopened box. And hummed, “Since Summer’s birth—”

“Damn. You had to one-up me, huh?” A whole two years was a long time to carry a ring in her mind. “Can I wear it?”

“Of course,” Weiss nodded. She showed the ring to Summer first.

“Pretty.”

Weiss jammed the ring around Ruby’s finger. It fit perfectly. Ruby stared in awe during the process. “It’s nothing special. No sentimental value of any kind—”

“No. Weiss. This is dope.” The ring screamed Ruby Rose so well. It was one of a kind; like most roses in the world, she had thorns—even if it was merely her personality. “Thank you,” she said in a hug.

* * *

“We got engaged!” Ruby exclaims. Weiss smiles at her. “We also had another baby,” Ruby squeals. “Osiria was born this past February. Aptly timing, if I do say so myself,” Ruby adds. Weiss nods in agreement with glee. “Uhh… we planned on getting married this year, but that’s not gonna happen….”

“Oh, there’s no way that’s gonna happen. That would be reckless on our part if we stuck with our set date.” Weiss rubs the base of her neck. “I’m honestly not too worried about it,” Weiss adds, “we can wait.”

Ruby nods. “Yeah. Stay inside if you can, please. Also, I’ve mentioned this before, but if you’re going out, protesting, please stay safe. I have links to resources in the description,” she sighs and looks at Weiss. “Speaking of staying inside… how has quarantine been treating you?”

Weiss sighs. “It feels like I’ve been home forever. Earlier this year, the news was circulating about this, and traveling has been a major risk on my part.”

“I’m pretty sure this has been the longest time, consecutively, you’ve been home,” Ruby comments.

“Yeah. Over 5 months now. How about you? How are you hanging, Ruby?”

“I mean… I’ve brought this up before in previous streams. I’ve been working pretty much nonstop.” Weiss idly moves closer to embrace Ruby. “I’ve also been the one who goes outside—I’m actually going out of my house to buy groceries and stuff because Weiss can’t do it, and we’re not putting our kids at risk.”

“You’ve been so sweet and so brave for us,” Weiss says in Ruby’s shoulder.

“Thanks,” Ruby gushes, “and I’ve been taking all the precautions—wearing a face mask and washing my hands—plus, I have a great immune system overall. You guys know Chris Traeger from _Parks and Rec_ , right?” Ruby asks rhetorically. “Yeah, that’s me in a nutshell. I’m healthy as fuck, I don’t get colds or the flu, I’m essentially a machine. 

“Weiss, on the other hand, gets sick _constantly_. There is not one moment after a trip where she feels under the weather. It’s ridiculous.”

Weiss wipes the smirk off her lips. “Wait. Hold on. There are multiple factors and reasons why I’m not going outside—mainly for my health and safety,” she explains. “Yes, I do get sick often, but I’m not classified as immunocompromised. I think my immune system is just shitty.

“Second, there’s the fact that I’m a singer and we’re dealing with a _respiratory disease_. My career is on the fucking line—not in comparison to healthcare and essential workers, of course, please don’t take that the wrong way—if I do contract the virus, there would be potential lung damage, which means I can’t sing to my full capability. My career would basically be over and that’s terrifying.”

“You haven’t been getting, like, shit-on based on these allegations have you?”

Weiss deeply sighs. “That’s complicated, especially in my industry. I told my manager, back in early February, that I didn’t want to travel internationally, and as my manager, he obliged. The venues, on the other hand, did not condone that decision.” Weiss massages her temples in frustration. “We had to give them a faux reason, which was my maternity leave. And then when shit hit the fan, more live events got postponed or canceled. Karma is a bitch.”

“I think… and we’ve talked about this before, but you made the right call,” Ruby reassures, “do you have any idea when you or your manager plan on touring again?”

Weiss groans. “I have no idea, and I’m not risking the health and safety of my management team to tour again.” Ruby faces the chat monitor and doesn’t respond. “Sorry if we’re going off on a tangent—”

“No, don’t worry about it. They’re now just catching up on our conversation, and I saw a message pop up of someone noticing you wearing my hoodie.”

“Yes. I am.” She shows more of Ruby’s red hoodie to the stream. “It’s freezing in your office, so I have to wear this to retain body heat.” She tugs at Ruby’s black muscle shirt. “Look at what you’re wearing. How are you not freezing?”

Ruby looks down at her exposed arms and shrugs. “I was running outside earlier, and it’s so damn hot outside. I took a shower to cool off, but that wasn’t enough. So I’m in my refrigerator of an office to help me cool off. I need this, Weiss,” she tells her before looking back at the chat. “If any of you have questions, by the way, feel free to ask them. Use super chat if you want us to guarantee we’ll see it. You can also tip if you’re on Twitch. Mods, keep an eye on chat, please.”

Weiss shuffles on screen. “Back to what I was saying earlier… may I continue?”

“Yes, of course.”

“Okay,” Weiss thinks back, “so, quarantine… I hope you’re all safe and healthy. I’m very lucky to be in a situation where I’m with someone I can tolerate and surround myself with people I love—”

“Do I know them?” Ruby asks and Weiss laughs in surprise.

She playfully slaps Ruby’s arm. “Don’t interrupt me.” Ruby flashes a cocky grin. “As I was saying… I’m surrounded by my loved ones, but I know that’s not the case for everyone watching.

“I desperately wished the circumstances were a lot better. Ruby tells me that you wanted me back after last year’s video and the other videos I appeared in; I’m flattered.” She smiles. “I think this is the least I can do for all of you at home, whether it’s live right now or sometime in the future,” she finishes.

Ruby pulls the attention on her and adds, “I think you make very valid points. From what I’ve done with my streams, I’ve cultivated a strong community, and I think it’s important to stay connected, especially virtually. Having Weiss on stream wasn’t my idea in the slightest,” she chuckles, “you can thank the people in the server who have been annoying me after Wednesday’s stream and all day yesterday. They’ve been pulling my leg and I’ve pulled through. So here you have it: Weiss.

“I saw a couple of good questions pop up earlier.” She keeps her eyes on the screen for questions. “thewildmonkey wants to know what you miss about New York?”

“Ooh. That’s a great question.” Weiss idly thinks for a moment. 

* * *

She didn’t even bother to get up early. Ruby did, of course. She ran her 10 miles like a maniac; Weiss could only hope she wouldn’t get lost. For now, She rested in her childhood bedroom, which felt more like a temporary guest room. The sun rays beamed through the massive windows and the sound of traffic blared from the distance. She refused to get up… especially after last night’s dinner with her family.

A sloppy kiss engulfed her exposed cheek and a putrid smell woke Weiss up. “Ew! Ruby!”

The YouTuber laughed. Early spring sweat glistened on her shoulders, chest, and forehead. “Morning!” Weiss pressed a pillow over her head and groaned into it. She giggled again. “You’re not sick, are you?” She asked, concerned. The back of her hand touched Weiss’s forehead.

Weiss’s eyes peeked from the pillow and she sent a glare Ruby’s way. “I’m sick of you,” she grumbled.

“Oh, good. That’s it,” she smirked. Ruby lifted the end of Weiss’s shirt (one of Ruby’s old tops) and pressed a gentle kiss on her belly. “I love you,” Ruby whispered. Weiss could almost forgive her…. Almost.

There was a knock at the door. “I’ll get it.” Ruby swung off the bed and answered it. “Klein!” She happily greeted him. The eagerness in her voice made Weiss smile. 

“Miss Rose. These are the bagels you’ve ordered—” Okay, now Weiss can forgive her. 

The bag wrinkled in the YouTuber’s grip. “Spread?”

“Separate. In the bag.”

“Perfect. Thanks. Yissss.”

“Also,” he held out a tray with a coffee mug on top, “this is for the miss.”

“Oh. I’ll just take it.” Weiss began to slowly uncover herself from hiding. The smell of fresh morning bagels, plus coffee, is irresistible.

He turned to leave. “Oh. Wait. One more thing.” He and Weiss froze. “Can you pack some coffee beans for us…? It’s for Weiss. She likes… uhh, to collect coffee beans, and it’ll be awesome to take some home.”

First bagels, now the coffee to go. Weiss couldn’t bear this ache in her heart. How could Ruby go from being a gross slob covered in sweat to the sweetest angel perfect human being Weiss has ever met? 

“Of course.” She heard the smile in his voice.

Ruby bid Klein thanks and made her way to the bed. “Thank me later, Love.” Instead of being chaotic by running with the mug full of coffee, she was careful with it and sat it down delicately on the nightstand. For as long as Weiss has known Ruby when has she ever…. 

Weiss peeked in the bagel bag. Blueberry bagels included. “Ruby!” She cried. “Owww, my heart! You’re too sweet.”

She took out the spread: strawberry and blueberry—their favorites. 

“Should I eat first or shower first?”

“Shower!” Weiss said, already prepping her bagel. “I vote shower.”

Ruby narrowed her eyes. “You’re just saying that… so you can eat all the bagels yourself.”

Weiss scoffed. “So what? I’m pregnant. I need this.”

“How about…,” Ruby nudged the mug in her hand, “you take this coffee Klein brewed for you—drink it. And I’ll take a shower while you do that.” She flashed her a grin full of sunshine.

“Deal.” She took a sip of the brew.

“Perfect.” Ruby jumped off the bed. “That way… we can eat the bagels together.”

“I’d love to see your face have an actual bagel,” Weiss said after a satisfying sip. “And not the—” The sight of Ruby stripping off her Dry Fit top brought her sentence to a halt. She tossed the sweaty top in a duffel bag. And then she kneeled to untie her running shoes—each vertebra of her spine outlined by her skin. Weiss saw the clawing marks on her back and arms. Lastly, there was the intricately detailed tattoo, she got maybe about a month ago, displayed on her ribcage.

“...today?” The tail end of Ruby’s sentence snapped her back to reality.

“Huh?” How embarrassing. She caught her staring. Weiss felt herself blushing.

Ruby cocked a smile. “I asked… ‘do you wanna match today?’”

“Do you have something to match my jacket?”

“The white one?” Weiss nodded. Ruby dug through her bag. “I have a… hoodie….” Weiss scowled. “Wait,” she gasped, “black/red leather!”

“Okay.”

“Good enough for me!” She made her way in the bathroom connected to the room. “Holy shit, this bathroom is nicer than our house!”

* * *

“I think, out of everything I miss about New York, I miss their bagels,” Weiss hums.

“Yeah?”

The singer has a dreamy-eyed look. “I get nostalgic because when I was in university, I would commute from home and would grab something before class. My go-to were bagels. NY pizza is overrated, same with cheesecake—you can get those anywhere nowadays. A bagel, though…,” she moans. “I have yet to find a good bagel here. You remember the bagels right?” Weiss asks Ruby.

“Yeah.” The gamer scratches her nose. “It’s been a couple of years, but when we went to New York together, we went there to visit your family. Afterward, we essentially went on a food trip. We were eating absolute garbage pretty much the whole day—”

“—and I was pregnant—”

“—and you were pregnant with Summer, yeah,” she smiles. “You didn’t care. It was fucking amazing.” Ruby looks over the chat again. “Good question, good question. Del! Hey, thank you for the tip! I appreciate it.”

“Oh, I saw a nice question,” Weiss exclaims. “Can I ask it?”

“Yeah. Sure. Go for it.”

She scrolls up and reads it. “‘What do you miss doing before quarantine?’ Thank you, monkey, for the question.”

“Hm,” Ruby hums, “So, I guess back to our conversation earlier…,” she chuckles. “You know, I want to say I don’t miss much, naturally. Because I’ve always worked from home, the main difference is my schedule. 

“Since March, I’ve been pumping out videos from the vault,” Ruby explains what a vault is to the audience and says, “because I’m so low in content production, I basically cracked. Uhh… for example, no spoilers for tomorrow’s video or anything,” her face glows in excitement, “but it’s a cooking video that I filmed a month ago. That video was supposed to come out last month, but I didn’t have the time to work on it because I was taking care of a fresh human—”

“Don’t say ‘fresh human,’” Weiss whines, “that’s our child.”

Ruby giggles and continues. “Anyway, in short, I miss my less productive schedule.” She turns to Weiss to hear her answer. “What about you Weiss? What do you miss before quarantine?”

* * *

Weiss hopped on the elliptical. She started pedaling—unsure of where to put her hands. On the moving handles. On the stagnant handles. On the moving handles. On the stagnant handles. On the moving ha—

Yang guided her hands on the stagnant ones. “Sorry for invading your personal space.” She grumbled—taking the elliptical next to her. 

“It’s fine.”

Her eyes looked to her side. Like a deer caught in headlights, Weiss hasn’t hit the gym since… college. 

_Yikes._

She saw Yang pressing buttons on her machine, minding her business. Which was odd—since Weiss was the one who asked Yang to train her. 

10 minutes went by, and Yang stopped using the elliptical. Weiss slowed down, too. 10 minutes had never felt so long. Yang gestured at Weiss to follow her. The singer slipped off her headphones and trailed behind Yang to a weighing scale.

“You got your heart pumping?”

Weiss nodded. “Yeah,” she sighed. The soreness swelled in her legs.

“Good. Now, hop on the scale. I’m gonna record your weight down.” Weiss did so and saw her weight was fairly average for a woman of her height. Weiss stepped off, and Yang checked the clipboard in her hands. “You have nothing to worry about,” she explained. “Although your BMI is a bit under… your body fat makes up for it.” The blonde tapped her pencil on the edge of the board. “Do you have any goals during training? It is the new year after all. There must be _something_.”

Weiss, indeed, had something in mind. “I want to be able to lift my body weight.”

A wave of shock took over Yang’s face. “Whoa! That’s ambitious, Schnee,” she began to scribble something down. “Alright.” She led Weiss to another section of the gym. 

Since it was the weekend, the place seemed a bit more crowded than she expected. This section of the gym had weights. Barbells, dumbbells, and benches were scattered around. “Deadlifting,” Yang commented to herself. 

Yang set up a bar for her and took each weight plate off with ease. Once she was done evening out the bar, she slipped off her fingerless gloves. A rubber grip covered the palms—perfect for weightlifting. “For you.” Yang tossed them to her.

Weiss almost dropped one but managed. She slipped them on as Yang laid down on the bench. “So we’re starting light for now. Just for now—5kg or 10lbs.” She gripped the bar and did a single bench press without breaking a sweat as demonstration. They switched positions. “It’s all about form. I’m gonna spot you. We’re gonna do a set of 10, and if you think you can do more, we’re gonna do another set of 10. Got it?”

Weiss nodded and held the bar above her head. With the strength of both her and Yang combined, they released the bar from its home. For 5kg, Weiss felt like she was carrying a shit ton of bricks. She brought it slightly above her chest.

She didn’t know what motivated her to hit the gym again. Maybe it was because she was a hair away from 30 and felt every inch of her organs age as time went by.

It especially didn’t help to be with someone like Ruby all the time. The woman was a ball of infinite energy, and Weiss didn’t know where she kept it all.

Desperate times, called for desperate measures. So, she called Yang. She asked if she could train her a bit—get her back in shape. Her perky response made Weiss hope she wouldn’t regret it. They agreed to be completely professional during the session, although it would be hard, considering she was dating her sister. 

With a grunt, the bar went back to its holding. “Good job!” Yang praised.

Now her arms were sore, too. Great. “Thanks,” she gasped. Yang gestured for her to go again. There was no way in hell she could do another set.

The blonde scribbled some more. “Now, time for squats.” Weiss slid off the bench and followed Yang to a more secluded area. It was an open space with a couple of other people working out.

“No weights this time… for now.” Yang did a few squats in front of Weiss. “Just like last time… a set of 10. If you think you can do more… 10 more.” Weiss got into position. “I’ll count. It’s all about posture, okay?”

“Yeah,” Weiss confirmed.

This was the first time she and Yang were alone. No Ruby. No Blake. It was just the two of them. 

Weiss asked Ruby if training with her sister would be a good idea. The scarlet-haired YouTuber lit up with approval. She even dared to ask Blake. She didn’t know why, but maybe the more mature of the two would offer her two cents on the matter. As expected, she gave her blessing.

These squats weren’t so bad. Although, Weiss felt lilac eyes judging her.

“Ten more?” The blonde asked.

Weiss stood up. “Sure.”

Yang smiled, and it was like the sun was in the room. “Piece of cake?” She held a hand up.

The singer decided not to leave her hanging. “Too bad I’m on a diet.”

The blonde burst into laughter as Weiss squatted back down. “That’s gold. I’m writing that down!”

* * *

“I don’t know if they knew this, but Yang has been my trainer for 6 years now. I actually miss her,” Weiss answers with a hint of sadness in her voice.

“But you still workout though, right?”

“Yeah, I do,” Weiss confirms. “She texts me a routine to do everyday, and when the gym nearby closed, she sent me an Amazon wish list of exercise equipment for extra”—Ruby suddenly chuckles—“what?”

Ruby ceased chuckling. “I was just thinking of when we went through the list… and I remember one of the items was uhh… an exotic dance pole—”

“Ruby, no. I’m not putting a stripper pole in my house!” Weiss sneers. 

“I wouldn’t mind that,” Ruby teases. “We could put it in our bedroom—”

“No—Ruby—I’m stopping you right there!” Weiss stammers as the gamer laughs for a solid minute. Weiss only grew frustrated. “Can we please take another question before I leave this room?”

Ruby’s laughter dies down. “Okay, okay, okay….” She wipes the tears in her eyes and apologizes, “I’m sorry.” They turn back to the monitor. “kagalli asks: ‘any advice you have on marriage or relationships in general?’”

Weiss crosses her arms. “We’re not even married, and people are asking for our advice,” she smirks.

The gamer chuckles. “We’re married in spirit.”

Weiss laughs along with Ruby. “We’ve been married for 8 years and didn’t know it.”

“Do you need time to think or you good?” Ruby asks.

Weiss waves her hand for Ruby to have her turn. “You can go ahead.”

“Okay,” Ruby says, “this is general relationship advice,” she discloses, “whether it’s platonic or romantic, but I would strongly suggest setting boundaries.” Weiss hums and nods in agreement. “Especially at the beginning of a relationship, sit all parties down and discuss any turn-offs, turn-ons, red flags, green flags, deal-breakers… y’know, to whatever extent into getting anything serious involved.

“It’s… the _most_ uncomfortable conversation you will ever have,” Ruby smiles, “but the payoff is worth it. And it doesn’t have to be, like, anything mentally jarring,” she uses her hands to speak, “Sometimes it happens organically. And sometimes boundaries are as simple as, ‘hey, wash the dishes.’ Ya know, talk about the things you like and dislike. 

“I know a common topic of conversation, especially in romantic relationships, are children.” Ruby states. “Early on in our relationship, I was pretty adamant about having kids. And I think we said this in last year’s video, but I brought up the idea of kids with Weiss ages ago, and she was on the indifferent side… where…,” Ruby thinks about what she’s going to say, “she hasn’t thought about it, but doesn’t fucking hate or despise children.

“Setting boundaries is my piece of advice,” she concludes. “It’s a life-changer.” Ruby chuckles, “I hope that makes sense; I’m sorry it’s messy. Okay, Weiss, you go.” The gamer steps to the side and lets Weiss take the stage.

* * *

“That sounds like a proposal,” Blake said. Weiss sat with her after dropping off her son, Leo. She decided to stay for tea. It wasn’t her favorite, but the woman said it was from a client of Yang’s who visited Japan recently.

“Really? You think she wants to marry me?” Weiss asked. 

After their trip to Germany for their third anniversary, Weiss thought about how she and Ruby have grown as a couple, as friends; they’ve come so far. 

From her words.

To her actions.

It grew from a seed to a beautiful flower for them.

“The words, ‘you mean a lot to me,’ and her constant flirting are reserved only for you,” Blake reminded her. “I wasn’t there… but I wouldn’t be surprised if she went down on one knee and… you know…,” she smacked her lips, making a popping noise.

“Really?”

“Mhm. Really.”

Weiss shifted her weight in her seat. “If you don’t mind me asking, how did your proposal with Yang go down?”

“It wasn’t romantic,” Blake shrugged. “We… had an intense discussion about marriage for several months. Our marriage was... deliberately for child and family support purposes.”

Weiss raised an eyebrow. Then it puzzled her.

Blake rarely brought up her past relationship—how she brought Leo into the world. She gave vague details, but nothing of note. All of that was between her and Yang. 

Leo’s bright red hair and blue eyes looked nothing like Blake. What he inherited was her dark skin and hair texture. Maybe also a little of her attitude, too, if that counted.

“I’m sorry. What?”

“I guess I should bring you into the loop,” Blake chuckled. “After all, you’re family to us, Weiss. 

“My ex is not the parental figure I want Leo to have,” she continued, “Nor is he the parental figure Leo deserves. Plain and simple. But not everyone sees him in the same light. He’s manipulative and as the cherry on top, he also has strong political connections,” she sighs. Her voice became cold, eerie, and unwelcoming. “To gain full custody of Leo, I had to look better for the court—get married, get a degree, get a sustainable job… all to give Leo the best life he deserves.” They both slurped their teacups. The hot leaf juice tickled her tongue at the taste.

“Yang loves Leo. She’ll walk through fire for him. And Ruby, too,” the woman ghosted a smile.

“And they’re okay with it all?” Weiss instantly regretted saying that— “I don’t mean to imply anything—”

“Yes. They are,” Blake brushed off her qualm with forgiveness. “Ruby even offered to hack into his accounts to dig up some dirt on him, but Yang said that was a bad idea….”

“Because it’s illegal—”

She chuckled. “More like he might have a creepy fetish neither of them wanted to know about.”

“Oh, how foolish of me,” Weiss said sarcastically, “of course what they’d think.”

With Blake, it was like looking into a mirror. They’re both victims in their battles of an unfair war written in the stars. And they’re trying to move on. To move forward.

Blake did that with Yang.

Weiss had Ruby.

“Can I offer… one more piece of advice—on marriage, and Ruby…?” 

“Please do.” Both women cradled their empty cups. It served as an exchange—a peace offering of some sort.

“We said a similar thing to her but whatever,” Blake shrugged. She freed a breath from her lungs. “Yang and I were together for three years before we decided to get married.” Ruby and Weiss had just celebrated their third anniversary together. “We were sort of in a rush… but you and Ruby have all the time in the world—practically. 

“Take your time. Please,” Blake begs. “Marriage is only a piece of paper—a formality. If it weren’t for the issues with my ex, we would’ve taken things differently. 

“You and Ruby don’t have that, right?”

That was the million-dollar question. Weiss drove back home with that question burning in her skull. 

Weiss loved her. She didn’t believe it at first, but she was able to fall in love again like the first time with her. 

It was her. 

It was always her.

When they came home from Germany, Ruby’s viewership plummeted on YouTube and Twitch. It was only for a week. She took a short sabbatical to spend all of her time, love, and attention on Weiss. No uploads, no streams, not even a vlog of their trip for her channel. Instead of being devastated, she was the complete opposite—she was simply content. 

It proved she wasn’t a machine. Ruby was flesh, a mind, bones, and a heart. And she shared all of that with Weiss.

* * *

“This advice is nothing new or life-changing,” Weiss says, “but, if it’s possible, I don’t think couples should rush to get married. In any given relationship, take your time,” she explains further. “Enjoy each other’s company because once you get official, more and more people get involved—whether that’s kids, whether that’s family and friends—your relationship becomes more of a show. 

“I also love how we lived together for years. First, in the apartments, then we moved into your dad’s house, and now we have our own place. The growth of our lifestyle reflects the growth of our relationship; if there’s no growth or potential growth, I don’t see any benefit in getting married.”

“Yeah.”

“Blake told me that, years before I even decided to propose—”

“Yang and Blake said the same thing to me,” the gamer comments. “For those who are unaware, Blake’s my sister-in-law.

“Uhh,” Ruby continues, “I agree with that, strongly. It takes the pressure off of things, for sure. Some couples don’t even have the fortune of cohabiting together before marriage.” The YouTuber freezes and begins typing on the keyboard. “Wait, am I using that right—cohabiting…,” she stops and reads the definition, “‘live together and have a sexual relationship without being married,’ oh no, no no no, I _don’t like_ that,” she chuckles.

“We’ve never had sex—we’re both virgins,” Weiss teases.

“ _Right._ That’s gross. I- I’ve… I’ve never been naked.” Ruby bursts into laughter, quickly followed by Weiss. This lasts for a good minute.

“Ruby. What the hell?”

“I dunno,” she giggles, “I was trying to help, but I think I made it worse.”

After a while, Weiss wipes away the tears from her eyes. “Oh, you think you made it worse?” Weiss asks. “You absolutely made it worse.” 

Ruby has a hard time standing and grips on the edge of her desk. It takes her nearly a minute to recompose herself. “So, speaking of Yang and marriage…,” Ruby manages to say, “after we popped the question, she told me you asked for her blessing or whatever. How did that go down exactly?” She asks her future wife. “Knowing my sister, my curiosity is piqued.”

* * *

Weiss played chauffeur that day for Yang and her kids. Their car was in the shop and her children had a joint doctor’s appointment today. Zwei II greeted the group entering the home. Weiss had her hands full with groceries and Summer’s baby bag. The twins instantly gravitated towards the pup and Weiss saw Yang lounging on the couch. 

“Dang, this couch is so nice.” Weiss released Summer from her carrier and let her loose in the playpen in the living room. “Hey,” Yang looked up from her phone at Weiss, “thank you so much for taking us to the pediatrician… and now lunch—I-I don’t know how I can ever repay you…,” Yang’s words trailed off. 

“Well, you’re welcome, for starters,” she gave her a faint smile. “Don’t even mention it,” Weiss said. “Maybe as repayment, you can have those car repairs done.” Yang cackled at Weiss’s statement. The tired in the blonde’s eyes were deep. Weiss felt sorry for her. She had to cancel appointments with clients because of a lack of transportation, and it was a whole two days, too.

A thought came over Weiss. Maybe it was a horrible time, but—“Do you mind if I show you something?”

Her lilac eyes narrowed. Yang gave her response in the form of silence.

“Here. Follow me.” Yang’s boots stomped behind her as she led them to the laundry room. The blonde looked around in confusion. Weiss dug through a pile of clothing scraps and took the box out—

“The fuck—!” 

Weiss lifted a finger over her sealed lips. “This is for Ruby.”

“Oh,” her shoulders slumped, “thought it was for me for a second—”

“Don’t be ridiculous!” Weiss nursed the box in her palms. She took a deep breath. “I would like your blessing—”

“What is this? The 1950’s—?”

“I would like your blessing to propose to your sister,” Weiss ignored Yang and finished her sentence.

Yang shifted the weight in her legs. “Y’know when Blake and I got engaged… we didn’t ask either of our parents… nevertheless Ruby—”

Weiss quickly licked her lips. “Well, sorry for being old-fashioned,” she said flatly. 

Yang’s eyes fell to the little box in Weiss’s hand, and then rose to the woman’s crystal blue eyes. “I have a couple of questions for you, chief,” Yang said, “how long have you had that, and when are you planning to pop the question?”

She exhaled and told the truth. “Ordered it when Summer was born at the hospital. It arrived at my sister’s place two months later. I’ve had it since then.” If her math was correct, which it rarely was, that was about half a year ago in her head. “About when I’ll ask her…,” her mind drifted to Ruby. 

Funny. She wasn’t even in the same State (Ruby was out of town at a convention), yet Weiss thought about her constantly. She missed her. “I don’t know,” She shrugged.

Weiss felt terrible being unprepared. It was happening more and more recently. She saw Yang nod her head in the corner of her eye. “Okay,” is all she said, “you have my blessing.”

Her eyes went wide in shock. “May- may I ask why?”

The blonde’s fingers tapped a keychain hanging off the wall-mounted key holder. “Honestly? My sister’s fucking crazy about you.” She continued to divert her gaze anywhere except Weiss’s eyes. “I thought it’d fade after a year, but… no. After, like, 5 years, you guys are a house and a baby strong.” They finally met each other’s eyes. “I’ve never seen my sister happier—it’s only with you. Rubes will mention your name and her lips curl into this idiot smile. When… you’re on tour, she’ll come over for dinner and ‘Weiss… Weiss’ will slip out of her mouth when she’s cutting vegetables or some shit,” Yang smirked.

Weiss didn’t know what to say. Those things sounded a lot like Ruby. She tucked a lock of white hair behind her ear and looked up at Yang. “Thank you,” quietly came out.

What surprised her was the light hug. She had only heard of Yang’s hugs. How they cured breakdowns during midterms and turned any bad day instantly better. And now she was in the embrace of the woman herself. “Anything for my future sister-in-law,” she said in Weiss’s hair.

Weiss grimaced as they broke apart. “Ugh. I’m gonna have to get used to that, am I, huh?” 

“Yup,” Yang patted her back.

* * *

“So… Yang,” Weiss drawls, “I knew I didn’t have to ask for her blessing. I meant to ask your dad, but we already moved out of his house, and your sister was with me at the time. I figured it would be okay to ask your sister. But I was wrong”—Ruby resumes laughing—“because Yang may be a fantastic trainer, but she’s going to be a horrible sister-in-law. I’m telling you right now—”

“You should’ve asked my dad,” Ruby suggests between tears of laughter.

“Yeah,” Weiss agrees, “no shit. It would have saved me a headache,” Weiss chuckles. “But you asked my sister, too, I’m sure that didn’t go as bad.”

* * *

Her sister was visiting for the holiday. This was _huge_ for Weiss. Not only was it the first time Winter was seeing her as an independent adult, but she was introducing her to Ruby for the first time.

Weiss paced in the apartment before Winter’s arrival. Ruby was dressed in a formal sweater and skirt, matching with Weiss, at her suggestion, and constructed their dinner from top to bottom up to Schnee standards. “It’s fine,” Ruby comforted her.

“It’s fine,” Weiss agreed.

“Just relax.”

She sighed deeply. “Relaxing.”

“Good.”

Right on cue, prompt as ever, the door to their apartment buzzed. Weiss answered the door and Winter, in military uniform, stood tall on the other side. “Winter!” Came out more excited than expected.

“Weiss, it’s good to see you,” Winter greeted with a small smile. She held up a bottle of wine. “If you don’t mind, I’ve brought wine.” Weiss stepped to the side to let her sister in the common area. “It’s very fruity, with a bit of dryness to it—a Rosé.”

“Perfect!” She took the bottle off her hands and set it on the table for display. 

Ruby pushed herself off the table’s edge to introduce herself to the military officer. “Good evening, Winter,” Ruby initiated a handshake, “I’m Ruby Rose, Weiss’s girlfriend.” Ruby’s voice lost its bouncy flare in exchange for a stiffer tone. Her bubbly personality, however, remained contagious.

Winter’s expression indicated that she appreciated the handshake very much, but she slipped out of Ruby’s grip first. “Greetings, Ruby Rose. Weiss has mentioned you in our previous communications. I wish to thank you for taking an interest in my sister as well as the extended invitation for this traditional autumnal feasting holiday.”

As Winter wrapped up her sentence, Ruby fell stunned in silence as she processed what Winter just said. “Uh… you're welcome,” she quickly recovered. “Please, make yourself at home.” She gestured around the common area. In the corner of her eye, Weiss saw Ruby take a sigh of relief. She clasped Ruby’s hand and squeezed it. Ruby gave Weiss a quick kiss in her hair, walked back to the kitchen, her happy place, and checked on the soup. 

Weiss watched Winter as she looked around the apartment, she desperately hoped it was up to her sister’s standards. She spent the entire day wiping off every speck of dust under the sun. 

“What is on the menu this evening, sister?” Winter asked while she eyed the knick-knacks on the shelf.

“Well, Ruby did all the cooking. With our budget, we tried to keep things simple, yet traditional with premium quality,” Weiss answered. “Tonight, we planned a three-course meal with fresh ingredients from the local farmer’s market and a turkey farm within county limits. This evening, we will serve a starter of butternut squash soup; the main course is a turkey sandwich, the bread is made from scratch, a cranberry sauce, paired with vegetables as toppings and salads on the side; for dessert, we will have sweet potatoes topped with marshmallow served in ramekins.” 

Ruby guaranteed her sister would love it, or she was crazy. Weiss didn’t admit she wanted to risk that chance. 

Unknowingly, Weiss had her hands clasped in front of her as she listed out the menu for tonight. She noticed the soles of Winter’s shoes left imprints on the rug. She strolled to the direction of a nearby window and pulled the curtains back by a smidge. The last thing Weiss caught her staring at was a Polaroid photograph of Weiss and Zwei taken by Ruby back in July. It was tucked between a frame of a photo of Yang and Ruby together at Yang’s graduation. 

Winter sat on the sofa, sighed, and made herself comfortable as Ruby insisted. “I like your apartment,” Winter complimented. A smile grew across Weiss’s lips. “This is… a different location than the one you were living in last year, correct?”

“Yes.” Weiss tucked a lock of hair behind her ear. “We found this place at a cheaper rate. Plus, it’s one-bedroom, so it’s more affordable.”

Winter nodded once more in approval. “Yes. Frugality is important.” She leaned against the backrest, allowing the sofa to support her. Weiss finally sat down after standing for an eternity. “I can’t imagine how many strides you had to make to be where you are.”

Weiss forced her chin up to look at her sister. “Well, it’s all thanks to you, Winter.” She felt the warmth build in her cheeks. “And… Ruby, of course.”

“Dinner’s ready!” Ruby interrupted them. 

Weiss almost grew furious at her girlfriend for cutting in her and her sister’s bonding moment, but Ruby had a smile on her face that cleared thunderstorms. Weiss’s face started to cool down and the tension around her muscles relaxed. The nerves of her sister being here got to her, and she would have reacted horribly. She turned around to see her girlfriend standing by the little feast area they set up. “We’ll be right there, My Love.”

Ruby gave a slight bow and returned to the kitchen.

She faced Winter again and saw an egregious smile across her lips. “What?”

“You have a term of endearment for each other. I think that is really sweet.”

The warmth in her cheeks grew hotter. “Oh.”

Winter crossed her legs. “I may not be the most affectionate sister, Weiss,” she admitted, “but I am really happy you can show your true colors with someone… and they accept you for who you are.” Weiss was only able to sit and stare at her sister. She stood up and paced toward the table. “Come now. I am ready to eat; I am also starving,” Winter gave a light laugh.

* * *

“No, yeah…,” Ruby says, “I’ve told you before that your sister was _shocked_ we even considered marriage. And we’ve had explicit conversations before where you were like, ‘you better ask my family for their blessing. They’re very strict about that,’” she imitates Weiss.

Weiss looks up at Ruby and asks, “When did you ask her again?”

“When she came to visit Summer. At the hospital.”

“Oh, wow…,” Weiss says impressively.

“She doesn’t come to visit often. I had to take any opportunity I had,” Ruby glances at the chat. “Oh. We mentioned your sister. Now the chat is going _wild_ ,” Ruby chuckles. Weiss shakes her head, smiling. “They want a piece of that Schnee booty.”

Weiss laughs uncomfortably in response. “Well, prepare for disappointment.”

“I…,” Ruby begins but stops before she finishes her thought. “No. I’m not saying it. I realized I can’t edit this stream. I mean, I can, but I don’t want to,” she runs her hand through her hair.

“Why? What were you about to say?” Weiss asks with curious eyes.

Ruby pushes the microphone aside and pulls Weiss closer to whisper in her ear. She cups over her mouth to avoid lip-readers. Ruby has a satisfied grin and says something unintelligible to Weiss. She shoots her hand over her mouth to suppress a giggle. She playfully slaps Ruby’s shoulder. After a couple of seconds, she moves the microphone back in place. 

“Sorry about that,” Ruby addresses the stream. She looks at the chat some more while Weiss cools her face down from blushing red to porcelain again. “You guys talking about _Animal Crossing_ again? Wow, you guys sure are horny for _Animal Crossing_ , huh?”

“I don’t blame them,” Weiss finally speaks again, “it’s a good game.”

“Ohh,” she looks back at Weiss, “that’s right, you’ve been playing. I’ve brought Weiss to the _Animal Crossing_ cult,” Ruby says proudly. “Should we show them your island?”

Weiss shakes her head immediately. “It’s nowhere as good as yours,” Weiss and Ruby giggle. “I’m not suited for video games. I think the only video game I’ve ever been good at is karaoke.”

“Is karaoke a video game?” Ruby asks in shock. Weiss nods. “No, it’s not,” she declares. The gamer furiously types on her keyboard, “Is karaoke a video game?” They wait for the search results to pop up. “The first result is a Wikipedia page for karaoke video games….”

“Look up just karaoke,” Weiss suggests.

More typing. “Karaoke.” Ruby reads the first thing she sees, “Karaoke is a type of dining interactive entertainment or video game— _no_ …,” she backs away from the keyboard. “ _No way_.” The gamer won’t admit defeat. Weiss covers her mouth from laughter. “ _What?_ ” She whispers, still confused. Ruby’s hands cover her head as she leans on the desk. She stays like that for a while.

“I think I broke her.”

Ruby stands back up. “Hold on.” She doesn’t say anything else. Weiss smirks. “Okay, I’m good,” she sighs.

“You good?” Weiss asks to make certain. 

The YouTuber gravitates towards the singer in a weak embrace. “Yeah, I’m good,” Ruby brings the microphone closer to her mouth. “Hi, I’m Ruby Rose, I’m 30, and I just learned karaoke is a video game!” She laughs and moves the microphone back. “Ahh, it’s so stupid,” she sighs to herself. “You are so good at karaoke, though,” she reminds Weiss. “Like, no lie… Weiss _crushes_ at karaoke.”

“Thank you, I’m flattered,” she expresses her gratitude. “I’m glad my singing career went somewhere.” Ruby guffaws at Weiss’s joke.

“Seriously though, the first time I fell in love with Weiss was when she was singing,” Ruby thinks back fondly.

* * *

Weiss strolled in the jazz club with hollow confidence. 

Tonight marked her two-week notice. Her swan song—saying goodbye to the regulars, the band, and the bartenders. 

Ruby showed up in the middle of her second set. She didn’t expect her roommate to be there, wearing an LBD, and a red cardigan over her shoulders. She looked tired.

She took a break at the end of the song, the other vocalist took her place, and Weiss made her way over to the lounge area where Ruby was. “Oh my God! I can’t believe you came!” She thought about reaching for a hug but decided against it. Ruby read her mind apparently, she leaped out of the loveseat and brought her close in an embrace. 

“Of course…,” she said, breaking away from their touch, “it’s your last night, and I wanted to support you. Is this okay by the way?” She looked down at her outfit. “Am I overdressed?” 

Perfect. Weiss kept to herself. The flats on her feet were an attempt. She looked like she was going on a night out. “You… look like you’re going on a night out.” A sudden smile appeared on the younger woman’s face. Weiss felt the same smile forming on her lips. 

Weiss explained the game plan for the night to Ruby. There was a two-item minimum at the bar; the food was decent; song requests were accepted when accompanied by a tip—the larger the tip, the higher the chance of that request being played; and any song of any genre is on the table. “Pop and ballads are popular,” Weiss informed Ruby, “but that’s because it’s easier to turn it into jazz—”

“Wait, hold on,” the smile on Ruby’s faces widened, “you sing all song requests in jazz?” Weiss nodded; her grin hidden behind her drink. “Like country to jazz? Reggae to jazz? Folk to jazz?” Gears in the other woman’s head turned at the idea.

She gave Ruby another affirmative nod. “I’m the one who sings them.” She felt the heat in her face as her silver eyes gave Weiss this puppy dog look. “I use what I learned in music theory back in NYU—there’s this whole process—um… that’s how I was able to land this gig… because of um… my skill set….” _What was wrong with her? Was she not able to use words?_

“That’s amazing!” Weiss snapped her eyes back on Ruby. A Christmas miracle filled her voice. After several attempts, she was able to flag down the bartender. “Tell you what… back at the apartment—after tonight—you can tell me all about it!” She made her order and gave Weiss a lopsided smile. She felt her heart melt every time Ruby looked at her that way.

Weiss thought about her last visit to her family. She blinked. “You don’t think it’s… cheesy… that I can sing any song into jazz?” She was unsure, ready to be hit by a blunt object on the head any second now. Her parents immediately disowned her when she was offered a steady gig at the jazz club downtown. She was becoming a monkey performing on a street corner to them.

In contrast to Ruby, who said to her when she broke the news, “are you finally going to pay rent now?” Her teasingly manner lifted her spirits.

“Are you telling me I didn’t have to pay rent this whole time?” She joked back. Ruby countered with an exaggerated “NO!” Ruby’s laugh made her levitate. One of those happy memories came back to her now and again.

“Hey, talent is talent,” Ruby said, while she munched on some chili fries. “You can do something… probably something I can never do.” There was a slight sadness in her voice, but Weiss knew she meant well.

A cloud-sized breath escaped her lungs. “There’s some room in the VIP section…,” she said, as she pointed at the seating area next to the stage. Like, no room for comfort, that close to the stage. “Would you wanna…,” the rest failed to come out; she hoped the implication did the rest.

Ruby waved her off. “Oh no, it’s fine. Back here’s fine. Thank you though!” She got comfortable by the bar.

Weiss quickly told her that she would be on in a second. She didn’t even look back at her when she peeled off her sweater to reveal her Roaring 20s inspired attire. She got back on stage and said a few words in the mic before her next set. The band members passed around a boater hat for the crowd. She did her third set for the night. 

Halfway in, the band swiped the hat away, and she took a peek in the tip hat. The usual one and five dollar bills were in the mix. But then a twenty dollar bill caught her eye. She unclipped the paper from the bill and unfolded it. 

_Chop Suey - System Of A Down_

The handwriting was immediately recognizable. She had seen it some mornings with the message, “since ur boring… omelet with no hot peppers :(“ scribbled on a notecard next to a plate of food. Weiss sent a scowl at Ruby toward the bar. 

It was only them in the room. 

Ruby gave a little wave followed by a smug grin. She received the message loud and clear. _Good._ Unknown to the rest of the patrons, she flipped the bird at her. Ruby took it lightly; Weiss saw her laugh playfully on the other side of the room. She desperately wished she heard it.

Weiss didn’t hesitate to work on this specific request. She signaled ten minutes at the band to allow her to diligently work. Maybe this was why Ruby didn’t want to sit in the VIP section. If she did, Weiss would’ve probably strangled her… in a friendly way, of course. 

She fished her phone out of her bag and hunted for the song. Weiss listened to it a couple of times—figured that should be enough. The song felt like a race. Especially when the drums kicked in. Her heartbeat thumped in sync with the rhythm. She noticed her head bobbed slightly to the song. The second time around, she took note of the measures and how she could incorporate the bass, piano, saxophone, trumpet, and trombone in the song. She vigorously scribbled on a legal pad and hoped it would all work out. _Was her twenty-dollar tip worth it?_

She gave the band the notes and the action in the room resumed as Weiss took a step forward in the mic. “Good evening everyone.” Her voice was sultry, classy—truly captured the speakeasy vibe she intended. The band played a riff for background music. “Is everyone having a good night?” A few snaps echoed in the room. The music continued. “This next song was requested by a dear friend.” The riff faded. “I hope you all like it.” Weiss gave a subtle wink for no one, in particular, adding to the cherry on top.

The band played behind her. She swayed her hips to the beat she desired to fit the song. As soon as she sang the first few measures of the lyrics, she heard the drummer rushing; they probably knew the song. Her arms were raised to faux conduct, which added stage flare and made sure the drummer was on her tempo. The harmony of the other vocalist reassured her vision. 

Through the haze of the stage lights, she saw Ruby’s shadow—still by the bar where they chatted. She looked like she was enjoying herself. Weiss felt her lips curve into a smile.

The song soon faded to an end. 

Midnight approached. That was when a majority of the patrons left the venue. Everyone on stage earned a fifteen-minute break—going back on at 12:30. The drummer apologized for rushing a bit and Weiss forgave them—more like brushed them off. 

Weiss mentally debated whether or not to stay longer. It was her last night after all.

“That was so good!” Ruby said.

“You liked it?” Weiss prayed the dim lighting in the room masked her blush.

“I loved it!” She got a better view of Ruby. Her chili fries were clean off the plate. And she held a Coke in her hand. Admiration. Adoration. Affirmation. Everything withdrawn from her upbringing was balled up in the girl in front of her.

Weiss dabbed off droplets of sweat on her forehead with a cocktail napkin. “System Of A Down.” The band’s name jumped off her tongue. “Ugh! Heavy metal… really?” The tail end of the sentence slapped her in the face.

Ruby giggled through her straw. The best kind of sound of all. “You said pop and ballads were easy. Thought I would challenge ya. And hey… you killed it.” She did say that, didn’t she? She was using her own words against her. But she was flattered. 

“Do you wanna know why I picked that song?” Ruby asked. Probably rhetorical but Weiss was curious to know anyway.

“No. Why?”

“It was the first song I learned how to play on the drums… all by myself.” A mix of pride and glory coated her words.

Weiss was… impressed. She envisioned Ruby shaking her head along as she played; her short hair draped over her eyes in a mess; probably lip-synced to the lyrics of the song; made the weird faces drummers did. The drum parts were one of the more attractive attributes of the song. She could respect that. Any good musician can. “I didn’t know you knew how to play the drums,” her voice trembled and she got a glance of Ruby’s eyebrows waggling.

“Mhm. Junior high band. I’m a little rusty though. It has been, like, pfft ten years.”

“That’s too bad,” Weiss said, “I sort of have a thing for drummers.” _Why the hell did she bring that up in front of her?_ Ruby’s eyebrows rose even further past her bangs. “My last relationship was with a drummer,” Ruby’s eyes fell into a downcast, “but let’s not talk about that.”

“Let’s not,” Ruby said rather quickly. “So are you done for the night?” She twirled her keyring around her finger. “I can drive you home.” Weiss did feel particularly exhausted that night. 

* * *

“Oh, yeah, I remember,” Weiss hums.

“For context, Weiss was a singer at a jazz club, and she was amazingly talented. She would take requests for tips, and then change that song—basically rewrite it—to sound like jazz. It was dope,” Ruby recalled in awe. “The song I requested, because it was her last night, was System of a Down’s ‘Chop Suey.’ She fucking hated me,” Ruby adds, “but it was worth it—”

“I still hate you,” Weiss says with a smile.

“No, you _love_ me.” Ruby takes Weiss’s hand in hers. 

The singer chuckles. “Don’t feed them these lies.”

She glances back at the chat. “‘Trans rights.’ Trans rights! Weiss, trans rights?”

“Of course, trans rights,” she says. “And you know what? Black lives matter and fuck cops.”

“Weiss,” Ruby gasps.

“What?” Weiss asks innocently. “You brought it up earlier,” she remarks.

“I brought up proactive demonstration safety and resources to donate,” Ruby states. She goes behind Weiss and grabs hold on her shoulders. “But if I have to hold you back, I will”—Before Ruby can add on to that, soft screeching is heard from another part of the house—“If you hear incoherent screaming, it’s probably nothing,” Ruby chuckles awkwardly.

Weiss brushes Ruby’s hands off her shoulders. “I’m going to check on them,” she announces and exits the frame entirely.

“Okay,” Ruby says, stepping in the center of the frame. She monitors chat. “‘Ruby’s hella whipped?’ Yeah, yeah I am,” she chuckles. Ruby squints at the screen. “‘How does Weiss rub you?’ Wait, I think I read that wrong.” Ruby scrolls up chat and reads the full comment. “‘From last year’s vid and social media posts, it looks like Weiss obtained a lot of hobbies and interests from you. What are the ways Weiss rubs off you?’ Oh, thank God. I thought we were going into uncharted territory.” Ruby chuckles awkwardly. “Uhh… I dunno. Weiss likes shows like _Brooklyn 99_ , and she was devastated when _One Day at a Time_ got canceled; luckily, they were picked up by another network. 

“I also accidentally got Weiss invested in _She-Ra_ and _Steven Universe_. They’re shows I watch with Summer and Osiria. Umm… I showed her ‘Other Friends’ from the _Steven Universe_ movie and she went, ‘oh this song fucks.’” Ruby giggles. “And I also showed her ‘It's Over Isn't It,’ another song that just fucking slaps, and we’ve been slowly catching up with the series. Each episode is, like,” she bobs her head to make an estimated guess, “10 minutes, so it’s not that long.

“With _She-Ra_ … I told her it’s another show with LGBT rep, which she loves, and we’re much further in it than _Steven Universe_. We finished season two the other day.” She scans the chat. “Yes, I’m aware the last season came out, but I’m catching up with Weiss first. We’ll finish it together.

“And, of course, _Animal Crossing_. She watches me and Summer play; I control Summer’s Switch on the TV and Weiss is around in the living room. I’ll do voices for baby Summer’s villagers and NPCs. Weiss says I do a great Blathers impression, and she calls him ‘the owl.’” Ruby chuckles. “It’s really cute. Don’t tell her I said that.

“After a while, Weiss came up to me and wanted to play, too. I was like, ‘alright,’ and got her a Switch. Uhh… in the game—oh she’s gonna kill me if she watches this back in the archive—I’m Weiss’s sugar mama,” Ruby laughs off to the side. “She’s constantly asking me for bells and furniture, and I’m sending that shit through the mail or cataloging it. 

“Oh man… it’s hilarious.” She pauses, thinking about what to say next and keeping an eye on chat. “I love Weiss, and I’ll answer any questions she has about the game. I feel like she’s further in the game than I am, but that’s because it feels like I’m playing two other people’s games. She has the Able Sisters shop but not K.K. Slider,” Ruby elaborates. “Weiss and I will have date nights on my island to watch K.K. and I will go to her island to get clothes at the Able Sisters.” 

Ruby sighs and stares blankly at the chat. “I can’t think of things Weiss likes or does that I do, too, since we’ve met…. 

“‘Show her _Avatar_?’ Yesss. I’m sure she’ll love _ATLA_ and _Korra_. Although…,” Ruby thinks intensely, “Weiss doesn’t like violence. Like, she’s not one to stomach it. I dunno,” she scratches her head, “we’ll see. I’m gonna write that down anyway.” Ruby jots on a pad of paper. “There’s just so much shit to watch,” she cries. “ _Carmen Sandiego_ is another series we need to check out. It’s too much shit. The struggle is real.

“If you have any other suggestions, Weiss likes home improvement shows and lifestyle reality TV shows. _Queer Eye_ and the Marie Kondo series are the two she is in love with,” she says while looking at the chat. “‘ _The Great British Baking Show?_ ’ I will be sure to write that down.” Again, she jots another note. “You can also @ her on Twitter. It’s @weiss4ny—let me type it out in chat.” Ruby takes another moment to type in the Twitch and YouTube chats. “That’s only for show suggestions. If you @ her, she’ll see it more likely than me.” 

Her eyes dart between the camera lens and the door to her office. Ruby appears to be in distress. “Speaking of… Weiss!” Ruby calls from behind the desk. No response. “ _Weiss…_ ,” she cries softer. “I hope she comes back.” The gamer checks her phone. “No shit, what if she just straight up left? 

A minute goes by. “She’s not coming back is she?” Ruby sighs. “‘Call her?’ I can’t.” She shows a different phone to the stream. “Her phone’s right here.” She places the phone back on the desk. “I miss her…,” Ruby says sadly. “Don’t tell her I said that. That’s embarrassing.”

Ruby looks off the frame, and her face lights up. She gasps, “You came back!”

“Yes, I did,” Weiss says off-camera. “Did you miss me?” She walks in the frame and kisses Ruby on her lips, disregarding the existence of the stream.

They pull away and look in each other’s eyes lovingly. “Nope.”

Weiss looks off to the side to read the chat. “They’re saying you missed me—”

“What? No. They’re lying. Don’t listen to them.” Ruby holds her closer. “‘That’s gay.’ You’re gay, somethingiswrong.” She giggles in Weiss’s hair. “Don’t worry, they’re a mod, I can say that.” She releases her grip on Weiss and looks at the stream. “Oh, yeah, what’s a… hobby or interest of yours that I also do because of you.” Weiss takes a moment to think. “Someone asked that earlier and I can’t think of anything.”

* * *

They were about to buy their own house.

The realtor parked in the driveway in front of a white bricked house. It was two-story, it had a pool, it was brand spanking new, and it was perfect.

The inside was even nicer. The white walls were clean, contrasting the dark wood floor nicely. Obviously, the place wasn’t furnished, their footsteps echoed in the barren room, but she could already picture a life together here.

They spotted another couple in the kitchen. “Ooohhhh. Cookies!” Ruby grabbed one off a plate.

“Hi. We’re…,” the man of the two introduced himself, but Weiss didn’t catch their names. The other couple’s goal with the house was to accompany tenants. They were heterosexual. She knew that much, for sure. 

An extremely perky seller introduced himself to both couples. He said they’d begin a tour and, in the end, bid an offer for the house.

“I must show y’all the backyard. So, if you’d please follow me….” They went outside to get a better view of the pool. There was an adjoining jacuzzi, a patio deck, and a little grass area. 

“Now as you see… the walls—the fencing is very tall….” Weiss noticed the fencing structure. It provided an exceptional amount of privacy. 

“...the swimming pool is heated. With the cold weather coming up, that’s not a problem with….” Weiss saw Ruby’s eyes glistened at the idea. She had a pool back in the city, but that was functional once a year. Having a year-round pool suited them perfectly.

The seller stood off to the side, and let the group wander. She and Ruby checked out the grass area. “How many square feet is this area compared to the pool?” Her girlfriend asked.

He gave an estimated answer. “Which, by the way, is perfect for young tykes to run around,” he addressed to the heterosexual couple nearby. They gave a reluctant look.

Unlike Ruby and her, it seemed like the couple was not planning on having kids of their own.

“Wouldn’t it be nice to have, like, chairs and benches out here…,” Ruby visualized for her. “And maybe a little garden there….”

“The farmer in you coming out, huh?” Weiss teased.

“My inner farmer wants a garden—it’s my Sapphic right,” she teased back and Weiss giggled.

The other couple observed them like animals in a zoo.

Everyone revisited the kitchen, as well as the other open spaces on the lower floor. 

She and Ruby hovered around the island counter and observed it more closely. “Are the countertops replaceable?” Ruby asked.

“Why would you replace such nice marble?” The woman of the other pair asked her.

She gave her a disapproving look. “Because marble will stain,” Ruby answered and sent a ‘is this woman out of her mind’ look Weiss’s way. 

“I want a wood counter to double as a chopping board… and then just take it off—‘cause,” Ruby turned around to where the stove would be—“then I can drop the food in here or something….”

“I think it’s a cool idea,” Weiss said, as she stole a cookie.

“I know! I can probably engineer it myself if I can do away with the marble—”

“This kitchen is perfect for even kids to cook for themselves!” The seller interrupted her. “There’s so much potential—so much room….” 

Ruby cursed in Mandarin under her breath as she walked to a different room. Weiss suppressed a giggle and followed her girlfriend.

Weiss passed by the staircase. According to the house description, the upstairs held two bedrooms, a bathroom, the master bedroom, and the en suite bathroom. She’d have to check out that part of the house later. For now, the last moment she saw of Ruby was her heading toward the main entrance. That area held a half bathroom, a study, and a formal dining room.

She found Ruby under an archway of a carpeted room. Ruby walked in it like it’s a memory.

“What are you thinking, My Love?” Weiss asked.

“I think this area will make a great office.” She leaned on the frame and watched Ruby circle the room. 

She shook her head at the ceiling light. “I’ll remove that,” Ruby pointed at the light as if it committed a crime. “I’ll add a door,” she made a frame with her hand and lined it with her vision facing Weiss. “And—oh! I’ll make it glass so that you’ll know if I’m here or not!”

Weiss chuckled, and she reached out to lock their fingers together. “You’re just full of ideas aren’t you?”

Ruby playfully swung their arms together. “Of course.” The fingerprints of her thumb grazed the back of Weiss’s hand.

“Now this room”—the seller broke them apart—“is meant to be the formal dining or…,” he looked at the other pair with a killing smile, “an area for the kids to play in—” 

Ruby and Weiss were pushed to the back, outside of her future office. She could’ve sworn she rolled her eyes with her. “Should we tell him we’re not straight?”

“Weiss!” She hissed softly.

\--

Even if the seller was rude and dismissive during their tour, they bid an offer for the house.

“Are you sure about… that price?” He asked them in surprise. A number clearly over the market price. Once the other couple heard their offer, they bounced—not even daring to top it.

“Why?” Ruby raised an eyebrow, “you don’t think we can afford it?” She and Ruby were way younger than the couple with them earlier. They saved up for years to get a place like this. That, or—

“No! I didn’t assume that at all! It’s that…,” he winced for what was about to come out of his mouth. Weiss was curious to hear what he had to say—to see if it was offensive or not. “...This house was built and marketed to be a home for families—in a neighborhood filled with future families—”

And he went there.

Weiss couldn’t tell who—her or Ruby—snapped first.

All she knew was at the end of the day, a pair of keys were placed in the palm of her hand.

They bought a house.

* * *

“Of course, you can’t,” Weiss teases and Ruby snickers. “Um… I would have to say politics and finances.”

“Aw,” Ruby groans, “that makes me sound old and boring.”

“But I like old and boring,” Weiss realizes what she said. “Wait. Hold on. Let me rephrase that”— Ruby snorts—“So, to put it this way, because we’re good with money, we were able to afford a house. Correct?”

“Yeah….”

“And if we weren’t, we would still be living in your dad’s place.”

“But you like my dad.”

“I do…. I do like your dad, yes. I consider him a friend.”

“You just like the fact that we’re out of his house.”

“Yeah. We moved out for very personal reasons; like, we wanted to start a family and we needed a bigger space. The timing of it all worked out in our favor.”

Ruby lowers her head and turns to look at the stream “So… speaking of my dad, he is a history teacher. And… he’s been trying to get me and Yang into politics and history and economics for his whole life. ESPN and the History channel were the only networks he would watch, and we had cable. It was ridiculous. Anyway, we didn’t budge once. Yang and I just didn’t fucking care—at least to the point of his level.

“Until… we were in relationships with, at the time, a law student, now lawyer and a former corporate drone now entrepreneur. So, like, shit.” Ruby chuckled. “The three of you,” she talks to Weiss, “would have these _super_ intellectual conversations; like NPR level shit, and Yang and I would be like, ‘uhhh,’ pure stupid just leaking out of our faces.

“I-I think at this point,” Ruby scratches her head, “we’ve gotten better. Like, I’m invested in stocks, and we attended protests fairly regularly. Like, I—in a million years—would have never imagined being invested in the stock market. Ten years ago, if you were to ask me what I thought of the DOW and NASDAQ, I’d be like, ‘dude, I have no idea what the fuck you’re talking about. You are speaking a brand new language to me, and I speak three,’” she chuckles. “Now, because of Weiss, I understand how the stock market works, and I’m good at it. But, I will say, it’s not for everyone.”

“True,” Weiss agrees. “Like, I love your dad and everything, but not even he is up to par with my number of shares. He’s just glad I was able to bring Ruby up to his level,” Weiss explains to the stream.

“It looks like I’ve succumbed to be a boring adult,” Ruby adds as she checks her clock. “We’re going to be playing _Animal Crossing_ in a bit. Last chance for questions. Make it count.” 

“How is your dad, by the way?”

“He’s good. He uhhh… actually retired.”

“Oh, wow,” Weiss exclaims happily.

“Yeah. This school year wasn’t the most optimal year to retire, but last month was his last month of teaching. Thankfully, he told his students he was going to retire _before_ spring break, before this shit storm, and they were able to give him a proper sendoff.”

“Oh, that’s nice,” Weiss says. “He talked about retirement on Christmas. I’m happy for him.” She steps closer to Ruby. “Did he ever elaborate on your Twitch stream thing?”

Ruby begins to laugh uncontrollably. “He- He—yeah. For context, we have a family group chat between Yang, Blake, my dad, and the two of us. I would message the group chat whenever I went live because, hey, it’s not like they’re doing anything productive,” Ruby chuckles. “For the past two or three months, when I streamed, I noticed a huge spike in viewership every hour. Like, I would review my analytics and would see these peaks in viewership. 

“In April, we were Face Timing each other, and before we ended it, all he said was, ‘my students really like your streams.’ And I went, _‘what the fuck?’_ And he never elaborated. He went radio silent. That was until a month ago, the two of us talked, he wished me a happy mother’s day, and that’s when I asked him about it. 

“He explained to me that… after each Zoom call with his class, he would post the link of my Twitch in the chat, and he had an extra credit assignment where if the student takes a screenshot, proving they watched my stream, he was gonna add bonus points to their final grade.”

“That’s fucking hysterical,” Weiss grins.

“I know,” Ruby agrees. “And I never brought it up on stream because I didn’t want him or his students to get in trouble or anything. I think it’s okay if I bring it up now. He’s retired. His school district is on summer break. It should be fine.”

“I think it’s fine.”

“Oh, shit, questions,” Ruby chuckles, “sorry. I forgot.” She scrolls the chat for questions. Ruby quickly moves to the side and sneezes in her elbow.

“ _Gesundheit._ ”

“ _Dank,_ ” Ruby says while stepping back in the frame. Weiss smirks. “Okay, here’s one: ‘we learned when Ruby was a hopeless gay with Weiss’”—Weiss giggles in the sleeves of Ruby’s hoodie—“Why? Just why? ‘When did you get the hots for Rubes?’ Thanks, danny, for the question. Appreciate it.” Ruby and Weiss look between each other. They fall into a comfortable silence. “I think I have somewhat of an idea. Do you?”

“Okay, let’s hear it,” Weiss instigates Ruby.

“Was it… Blake and Yang’s wedding?” She guesses.

“Oh, okay,” Weiss says. “Close,” she grins, “but not quite.”

The YouTuber thinks of another probable guess. “‘Close but not quite,’” she repeats Weiss’s words. “I… I got nothing.”

* * *

She didn’t expect to fall in love with Ruby the way she did.

It all started from an immediate bang from the other side of her and Ruby’s apartment. 

Weiss begrudgingly opened it to find a young blond girl in the hall. “Can I… help you?”

“Hi!” Her voice perked up in her face. “Is baby Ruby Rose here?” This stranger flamboyantly asked.

“She’s taking a nap in her room.” Weiss turned her body toward the other girl’s room. Ruby came home dead tired from class. It was a habit Weiss saw in her.

“Thank you!” With a pep in her step, the young girl made her way to the cracked door and found Ruby sleeping on her stomach with headphones on. Death metal could be heard from her ears. With no boundaries, she slapped Ruby’s ass. From the sound alone, she left a mark on the cheek for sure.

“Ow! What the hell?!” She slipped her headphones off, the music still blasting, and was very groggily pissed.

She was on the bed and bounced on her knees. “Wake ya boney ass up, girl! We’re having a tiki party!” Her arms waved frantically in the air.

“Ahh…” Ruby coiled her headphones, “a tiki party… in September… yay…,” she said, not even trying to mask her annoyance. 

“Don’t be like that! It will be fun! Trust me! Be there at 7, sweet baby Ruby.” The girl left and crossed Weiss in the common room. “Oh and bring your friend!” And like a magic trick, she was gone.

The two got there at 9. 

“We’ll go in, have some drinks, make a couple of rounds, and then leave.” Weiss liked the sound of the idea. More and more bodies appeared in sight. “Stick with me,” she added.

Weiss was presented with a lei and granted the person to loop it around her neck. On the corner of her eye, Ruby had one on, too. She looked down as they walked and closely observed it. The lei was cheap and fake and slightly uncomfortable with her low-cut top. “So what’s the point of…,” she tried to muster out words to ask Ruby and faltered.

Ever since their first encounter a couple of weeks ago, things were stagnant between them. They went about their days privately and with minimal interactions. Weiss meant to change that, especially after she learned Ruby could cook a decent meal. And her growing pains of the lack of knowledge in the kitchen only added to the fact. But she would also like to form a bond with this girl… if she’d allowed her.

They walked with hesitation as Ruby explained the theme of the night’s party to Weiss. “Oh, well… since a lot of high schools around the country don’t provide safe sex education that, you know, actually work and is effective and stuff… the sorority throws this tiki party to teach the new students about STDs, birth control, and consent. 

“You know… now that these kids are adults, they can grasp the knowledge on safe sex and the importance of it without the fear or shame they might face in teenhood. They give out condoms and period packs to people. And… It's like an overall party. Oh, but, like, without the sex. ‘Cause instead of getting laid… we’re getting ‘lei’d.’” A cheeky grin formed on the girl’s face. “My sister came up with the pun.”

Weiss nodded, gave her a half-smile at the corny pun, and they reached an area in the backyard where the drinks were made. The place was appropriately decorated with tiki torches and people wearing Hawaiian shirts and grass skirts. Drinks were served in pineapples and coconuts. It was like a luau… but “Party Rock Anthem” blasted through the speakers. 

She took a sip of the piña colada in her hands and followed Ruby like a lost child at a mall. Weiss had never been to a college party before this night, although not packed to the wall with people like she expected, she was overwhelmed. 

As she followed Ruby around, she learned a few things about her. Ruby’s nickname, “baby Ruby Rose,” was given to her by a group of drag queens who came by to party at the sorority. They saw her, called her that throughout their stay, and it just stuck. Ruby casually dropped that she's demisexual—which was difficult for a tipsy Ruby to explain and hard for an equally tipsy Weiss to understand—Ruby promised to show her a website about it later. 

Another drink later, Weiss cut their time short. “Hey, I don’t feel too great.” She wobbled under Ruby’s wing. 

“Okay,” her roommate didn’t even sound too drunk. “Yeah, let’s head home.” 

Seconds after their arrival home, Weiss found herself over the toilet bowl spewing the alcohol out of her system. Ruby held a few stray hairs undone in her ponytail away from her face. She didn’t even remember asking for Ruby’s help. It wasn’t like this happened a lot to her. Soothing words could be faintly heard from the other girl. She softly grunted, indicating everything bad inside went out, and Ruby reached over to flush the mess. 

Weiss clung on to the bathroom sink. Ruby helped her recover with a glass of water—asked Weiss to spit then drink. She expected Ruby to judge her for not taking the necessary precautions to prevent… this. Or maybe even a tease from the girl, saying something along the lines of not having a good tolerance for alcohol.

But instead, she was gentle and sweet. Ruby asked if Weiss was okay like she had done all her life. Like it was second nature to her. Ruby did the unexpected that night. Maybe it was Weiss who should rethink her mentality about people. 

After she felt somewhat better, Weiss prepared for bed. Still a bit shaken up from earlier, she checked the common room for Ruby. Her roommate rummaged around the kitchen, looking for something. “Hey,” Weiss got her attention.

Dark hair, then silver eyes, popped up from behind the counters. “Hey.” 

Weiss let out an unsteady breath. “Thanks for your help earlier…. I appreciate it.”

“Yeah. No problem,” Ruby said. “I can’t tell you how many times I’ve seen people in parties test their limit on alcohol. My advice? Don’t,” she awkwardly chuckled to herself. The room got dark and quiet fast. “You know… maybe you just had a bad coconut.” Weiss unexpectedly found herself chuckling. “Um… oh here.” Ruby took out an object in her hands and showed it to Weiss. “It’s a bucket. Probably used to hold mop water. But it’s a decent size. You can place this in your room that way you don’t have to run back to the toilet in case more comes out….”

She took the bucket from Ruby with both hands. “That reminds me…,” Weiss initiated a bold move of her own. “Do you mind sleeping on my bed… with me. I’m not too comfortable—and after tonight, I’m a little shaken up…,” Weiss felt herself gulp. It was raw but not entirely unsatisfying. She didn't judge her on the fact that Weiss was 24-years-old and scared after an unfortunate incident.

“Yeah okay,” she said unreluctantly; she wasn't eager either; it was very organic. In Weiss’s eyes, she could truly see Ruby’s unconditional care… despite how poor their introduction was. She led them to her room, Ruby respected all boundaries as she laid in bed. Her silver eyes are filled with exhaustion as her head rests on the pillow. “Goodnight,” she yawned and was out like a light.

There were mixed feelings of fear and comfort throughout the night. The chance of her vomiting again was unlikely but she could still sense the bucket on the floor of the foot of the bed. The most reassuring part was Ruby, who acted like a teddy bear for the time being.

* * *

“You were very warm,” she takes Ruby’s hand. “It was that tiki party we went to in grad school—”

“Oh!” Ruby cries. “Oh, fuck, that’s early.”

Weiss drops Ruby’s hand. “Yeah, yeah,” she nods. “I was _extremely_ homosexual”—Ruby cries out a laugh—“for you.”

“Okay, so at this party,” Ruby explains, “I was invited to a sorority party, which was primarily comprised of undergrads, and I was allowed to bring Weiss. I was like, you know what? She’s new in town, and I didn’t want to go there by myself.”

“I agree to disagree,” Weiss interrupts, “you were _coerced_ to bring me.”

Ruby puts her hands up in defeat. “Fine, you know what? I’m submissive, okay?” Weiss chuckles on the edge of the frame. “Back then, now, nothing has changed.

“Anyway,” Ruby continues, “moving on from that, we had a good time at that party.”

“Eh,” Weiss winces, “maybe a little _too_ good of a time.”

“True, true,” Ruby chuckles. “Yeah, we came home and you puked in the one toilet that worked in that apartment. I-I took care of you, essentially. I was like pulling your hair back and giving you water. And I purely viewed it as a platonic gesture.”

“Well, I didn’t,” Weiss says, which made Ruby laugh.

“Were you, like, pissed I didn’t catch on?”

“To my advances?” Weiss asks, and Ruby nods her head. Weiss scratches her chin. “In a way… I was extremely patient. And it wasn’t like I was exclusively pining for you.”

“No.”

“I dated here and there. I got some stories out of it,” she giggles.

“‘Ruby’s a bottom?’ Oh, fuck off!” Ruby spews at the chat. “Okay, I’m ending the stream there. Weiss,” she turns to her fiance laughing like a maniac, “thank you for joining us on the stream. Do you wanna promote anything? Plug any of your socials?”

She wipes the tears away in her eyes. “For pics of me taken by Ruby, follow my IG,” she smirks, and Ruby chuckles. “For political hellfire, follow my Twitter.” Ruby briefly claps.

“Perfect,” she gazes toward Weiss. “Do you wanna hop on my island?” Ruby asks with a low purr.

“Ew. Don’t say that with a sexy voice, Ruby,” Weiss grimaces. “For fuck sake, this is a children’s game.”

Ruby snickers. “So do you wanna? Yes or no?”

“Now?” Weiss casually stretches.

“Yeah. Right now.”

“What are your turnip prices?” Weiss interjects.

Ruby giggles. “Um, last time I checked, they were at 300 something,” she stutters.

Weiss hitches her breath at the answer. “Ohh. I was hoping for 500 or more…,” Weiss lowers her voice. “Can you ask them if their islands are buying at a higher rate…?”

Ruby gasps, “Are you cheating on me with other people’s turnips?”

“I have no other choice; my prices have been dogshit all week. Today is Friday; I need to sell them,” she smirks and pecks Ruby’s cheek. “I need to go grab something to eat. Let me know,” she says as she leaves the room.

“Okay,” Ruby says, still stunned. She looks back at the stream, pencil in hand. "What are y'alls turnip prices?" She asks half-heartedly. She waits for the chat to catch up. "This is for the sanctity of my marriage," she demands. "Over 500 or don't even bother." She waits for the chat to reply. "No, no, no, don't send me your Dodo Codes. Send me your prices and I will DM _you_ for your Dodo Code." After the delay, she writes something down. “Alright,” she adjusts her microphone, “stick around, I will have my mods DM y’all who have high prices.”

She sticks her head out away from the stream. “Oh, you’re back?”

“I forgot to say good-bye,” Weiss’s voice is faintly heard.

“I was gonna head out, too,” she tells her. 

Weiss stays away from being on camera. “Oh, do you want me to reheat something for you, then?”

“No, thank you. I’m just gonna piss and come right back.” Ruby turns to the stream. “Bathroom break, everyone. Wash your fucking hands.” 

“Bye,” Weiss remarks.

Ruby pulls up a graphic that says: wash your fucking hands.

**Author's Note:**

> Description:  
> I upload on YouTube every Tues., Thurs., Sat.  
> I stream on Twitch every Mon., Wed., Fri.
> 
> Weiss: @weiss4ny
> 
> COVID19 info: <https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/index.html>
> 
> BLM info: <https://blacklivesmatters.carrd.co/>


End file.
